format they use to provide their evaluation.
Many use a letter of recommendation drafted
by the advisor or a member of the committee who
knows the student. It may include writ-
ten comments about the applicant submitted by
faculty members, and it will reveal the
committee's consensus of the student's abilities
and potential and may rate the applicant in
comparison to others applying during the year
from the same school. Some schools provide
a letter of recommendation and a separate sheet
of faculty comments. Others may provide a
letter and a quantitative rating sheet (see
page 84) and possibly also a comment sheet.
Attributes listed on rating sheets, and the
ratings used, vary from school to school.
However, in general they refer to the
applicant's personal as well as academic attributes
and attempt to portray them in a quantitative
and objective manner.
In view of the generally high caliber of
applicants to medical school, recommenda-
tions (and interviews) have assumed major
importance in the application process. Thus,
students should make themselves and their
abilities well known to faculty members.
Their knowledge of you should be as thorough as
possible so that they can rate you not
only quantitatively but also qualitatively.
Recommendations by science professors,
whether they know you from coursework or as an
individual, are of special value. Of
particular usefulness are evaluations from
honors work or independent study supervisors
who can comment on such qualities as
initiative, determination, and reliability.
To facilitate preparation of letters of
recommendation in your behalf, some college
premedical committees require that prospective
applicants complete a standard form
that may be several pages long (see pages 78 to
81). This mechanism provides the com-
mittee with data relative to your personal
life, family background, outside jobs,
extracurricular activities (both school or
non-school related), and special interests. They
may also request that you submit a tentative
list of the schools you wish to apply to as
well as an essay relevant to your application
to medical school. By this means, not only
is a database available to the committee to
formulate your letter of recommendation, but
you will also be able to secure advice on where
to apply and how many schools to apply
to (see also pages 99–102). In addition,
your premedical committee essay can serve as a
prototype for your AMCAS essay. If your school
does not use such a form, you may,
nevertheless, wish to use the sample format
shown to provide information to your pre-
medical advisor and/or committee. In addition,
you may wish to solicit your advisor's
(or an English composition instructor's)
reaction to your essay as to content, style, and
effectiveness in "marketing" your candidacy for
admission.
Finally, a word of caution about advisors. It
is essential that you are courteous and
respectful at all times in your dealings with
members of your college faculty and espe-
cially with your preprofessional advisor. Your
advisor will be responsible for transmit-
ting the qualitative impression of the faculty
to the medical schools. Thus, your advi-
sor's good will is most desirable and can be
developed, not by ingratiating yourself, but
by establishing a genuine
relationship.
On the other hand, it is not necessary to
accept your advisor's recommendations as
the only truth if you have valid reasons to
question it. As with physicians, there are both
good and mediocre advisors. Moreover, there are
no licensing or certification processes
for accrediting advisors as there are for MDs
or DDSs. The institution usually selects a
member of its science faculty who may be
interested in doing advisory work and assigns
the responsibility to this individual, in turn
relieving that person of some teaching
responsibilities. The quality of the advice you
will receive will depend upon the advi-
sor's innate ability, experience,
conscientiousness, other academic responsibilities,
and
number of other advisees. Thus, the extent of
personal attention students receive varies
greatly. All too frequently, student counseling
is provided on a "clinic"-type basis.
Students frequently turn to upperclass-level
premeds (especially seniors) for advice;
their advice can be misleading since their
experience is limited, even if they have been
successful in getting into medical school. In
the event that you have reservations about
some important issue, you can seek to validate
your advisor's recommendations by dis-
creetly discussing them with another faculty
member on a confidential basis, by asking
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